The invention relates to a motor vehicle, particularly a passenger car, having a radiator and a spoiler arrangement arranged in the rear area, cooling air being taken in by means of a fan of the rear engine and through air inlet openings of the spoiler arrangement, flowing to a radiator located below.
In the journal MOT, No. 17/1984, Page 79, a vehicle having a rear motor is shown that on the upper side of the rear has a a stationarily developed spoiler. This spoiler is provided with air inlet openings through which, by means of a fan of the engine, cooling air is sucked into a radiator arranged below the spoiler arrangement.
Based on German Published Unexamined Patent Application (DE-OS) 28 51 639, a passenger car is known that has a spoiler arrangement located in the rear area, in which case the spoiler arrangement, by means of an adjusting device, can be moved from an inoperative position extending flush with the adjacent body into a moved-out operative position.
When a vehicle having a rear engine and a radiator that is arranged on the rear side is equipped with an adjustable spoiler arrangement according to DE-OS 28 51 639, the radiator, when the spoiler arrangement is moved out, would be acted upon only insufficiently by cooling air, because no defined guiding of air is provided. In addition, because of the vacuum existing in the rear area, exhaust gases and dirt would be sucked in through the gap areas between the spoiler arrangement and the body by means of the fan and would be further guided into the heat circulating system. In addition, during the moved-out operative position, the units (radiator, fan) located below the spoiler arrangement would be visible from the outside.
It is an objective of the invention to arrange an adjustable spoiler arrangement at a vehicle having a rear engine in the rear area in which case such measures are taken that, on the one hand, an operationally appropriate admitting of cooling air to the radiator is ensured and that, on the other hand, the sucking in of exhaust gases and dirt through the fan is reliably prevented.
According to the invention, this objective is achieved by providing cover elements operatively connected with the spoiler arrangement to cover the rearward and sideward facing gaps between the cover elements and adjacent vehicle body parts. In especially preferred embodiments, cover elements include hinged members which pivot with respect to one another during movement between spoiler operative and inoperative positions. In certain preferred embodiments, the cover elements for the lateral gap areas are wall elements connected to the spoiler.
The main advantages achieved by means of the invention are that, by means of the cover elements between the spoiler arrangement and the body, an optimized admission of cooling air to the radiator takes place also in the moved-out operating position of the spoiler arrangement. In addition, because of the cover elements, no more exhaust gases or dirt particles are sucked in through the fan. Finally, the cover elements have the effect that the units located below the rear hood, such as the radiator and fan, are not visible from the outside of the vehicle to thereby provide visual screening.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.